June 8, 2008 4:30 PM PDT

Robbie Bach touts Windows Mobile over iPhone, BlackBerry

Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division, told the San Francisco Chronicle in an interview published Sunday that the company has no plans to put up a Zune phone to compete with iPhone.

Robbie Bach, president of Entertainment & Devices Division.

(Credit: Microsoft)

On the eve of Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, where a new iPhone is rumored to be unveiled, the man who is charge of developing Xbox, Zune, and Windows Mobile began his question-and-answer session with the paper by touting the success of Windows Mobile.

"We will outsell the iPhone," he told the newspaper."We will outsell the BlackBerry."

"We don't make phones ourselves. We don't have any plans to make phones ourselves," the told the paper. "Our focus is on the belief that a phone is a very personal thing. Different people want different types of phones. We think that is going to continue, and we think Windows Mobile is in a great position to service all those different opportunities."

He went on to say that the phone itself is just one component of smartphones' success.

"It's about browsing. It's about music. It's about video. It's about e-mails, text messaging, and photos."

On the topic of mobile browsing, Bach also addressed the issue of the lack of advertising success in mobile Web browsing, saying that it's still a work in progress.

"The business model for browsing on a phone has not gotten itself completely clear yet," he said. "In the PC space, the way people monetize the Internet is through advertising. Now in the phone space, we believe that advertising will be a part of that experience, but it's a different form factor."

Bach also touched on entertainment issues, including Microsoft's backing of the now-largely extinct HD DVD format, pointing out that many consumers say they can't see a substantial picture quality improvement with next-generation discs.

"You have to look at how fundamentally compelling the difference is between a progressive scan DVD player and the picture that it can produce and what you get on a high-definition player. The reality is there is some difference, but most people look at it and say, 'I am not going to pay extra for that.'"

And can we expect to see the company embrace Blu-ray in the next version of its Xbox game console?

"There is nothing to even talk about right now with regard to the next generation. That is so far out that there isn't anything to talk about."

However, CrunchGear is reporting that a tipster with "close friend who works at Microsoft" said they were told that Microsoft will try to upstage Apple on Monday with the announcement that an Blu-ray Xbox 360 will be available by the Christmas holiday shopping season.


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Add a Comment (Log in or register) 30 comments (Page 1 of 3)
by t8 June 8, 2008 5:08 PM PDT
No plans to put up a Zune phone to compete with iPhone?

In other words the Zune is a flop and making a phone out of it would be a complete waste of time.
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by thenet411 June 8, 2008 5:18 PM PDT
I have a Windows Mobile 6 device (AT&T Tilt) and it blows the iPhone out of the water for me. I can load MP3s, WMAs, and many other audio types on my phone and listen to them all day long. In addition, I can stream Windows Media streams to my phone and the iPhone can't stream ANYTHING. Web browsing used to be a pain since the IE Mobile doesn't support full size web pages but with SkyFire I can browse anywhere. Who needs an iPhone?
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by jumpjetta June 8, 2008 5:31 PM PDT
And heck, on the eve of nobody paying any attention to M$ for the next 6 weeks while the new iPhone rolls out, we might as well *claim* we're going to outsell everyone else based on no particular fact or data. Somebody at CNET will report it as "news" "(of course) and maybe we'll steal a half-second of Apple's limelight.

Windows Mobile is a completely worthless OS for a phone as it's so ridiculously complex and unintuitive, not to mention an aesthetically unappealing experience. It was an also-ran in the smart-phone space long before it had any competition. Come to think of it, a "smartphone" with Windows Mobile is pretty much an oxymoron. We accidentally ended up buying a phone with WM on it... worst pile of crap I'd used. It made me want to go back to my phone from five years earlier... the one with the monochrome LCD screen.
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by delf76 June 8, 2008 5:35 PM PDT
They have no plans to make a Phone? on 4.15.2008, microsoft completed acquisition of Danger, and incorprated them into the Premium mobile Experiences Group at Microsoft. Danger makes the t-mobile Sidekcik (ironically, does NOT run Windows Mobile).

So, if they aren't planning on manufacturing a phone, what in the hell are they doing with Danger?
Reply to this comment
by zanely June 8, 2008 5:56 PM PDT
I don't know anyone who uses their cell-phone as MP3 player. Most folks have an iPod for that. The fact that a phone can download and play audio files may be a nice feature but it's not a selling point for me. Light, compact and internet accessible are features that appeal to me and the AT&T Tilt is anything but light. It's a brick. That thing is 3/4" thick and HEAVY. Sure it's got a lot of features, it damn well should since it weighs almost as much as most sub-notebooks.
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by ewelch June 8, 2008 5:57 PM PDT
Hahahahahahah! Like Ballmer, this guy lives in an echo chamber. He actually believes that Windows Mobile, which has been outclassed and devastated by Blackberry and the iPhone, and is way behind Symbian, and will be surpassed by Android before you can say "Service Pack 1 for Windows Mobile 6."

The guy actually believes that nonsense coming out of his mouth? Okay, well, nobody else does.
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by X-C3PO June 8, 2008 6:39 PM PDT
think about the "Zune", did it compete to the iPod? waste money,
a Zune phone? waste more money,
suggest m$ cut the stupid department to save more poor people of world.
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by stuxstu June 8, 2008 6:49 PM PDT
Let?s see.... Windows Mobile sales for last year 15 million... iPhone 4 million.

http://www.pocket-lint.co.uk/news/news.phtml/12780/13804/microsoft-windows-mobile-phone-sales.phtml

Why would you want a $500 iPod that can be used as a Phone? Add in very little memory and to me it is the silliest product out there....
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by halfNakedPappy June 8, 2008 6:55 PM PDT
I use the iPhone as an iPod... it's great in the car. It's far from a silly product. It has a great interface an runs well with my Mac. Last I checked, Windows Mobile doesn't sync with my mac or iTunes.
Reply to this comment
by fortyonejb June 8, 2008 7:45 PM PDT
mmm, i take my WM6 phone, go to my favorite net radio and stream away. In fact I could even stream my home media collection if I felt like it. Wait I can't do that with a more expensive iPhone? Superior technology my ass. You'll never be a poor man betting on the "oh it looks so nice, it must be the BEST" crowd.
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